They called the wind 'Rubio'

Published: Sunday, September 1, 2013 at 1:00 a.m.

Last Modified: Friday, August 30, 2013 at 6:34 p.m.

WEST PALM BEACH

I got off easy.

Certainly easier than all those unfortunate souls who happened to be named Katrina, Andrew or Sandy.

In the big scheme of things, Hurricane Frank was a modest affair, a Category 1 storm that skirted the Pacific coast of Mexico three Augusts ago without making landfall. Not exactly a memorable storm. Unless you knew the six people it killed, or were among the 800,000 affected.

Having your first name associated with a meteorological disaster has been a matter of luck of the draw. About 60 years ago, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) started giving hurricanes female names to make them easier to remember. By the late 1970s, that practice was deemed to be sexist, and since then, storm names have alternated between male and female names.

This season's list of possibly infamous names include Jerry, Karen, Melissa, Pablo and Wendy. Next year, you might be unlucky if you're named Arthur, Kyle, Laura, Sally or Teddy.

So all the people with those names are at risk of being associated with the next killer storm, just because these extreme weather events need to be associated with some name.

A group of environmentalists have come up with a reasonable alternative to this.

"As climate change continues to create more frequent and devastating storms we propose to create a new naming system -- one that names extreme storms after policymakers who deny climate change," claims 350 Action, a climate change activist group, in a video at ClimateNameChange.org.

The group is petitioning the WMO to name storms after congressional leaders who have denied climate science or blocked legislative initiatives that address limiting the greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming.

One of the prominent names on the list is Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, who before his tea party makeover, was a political leader who had spoken about the need to limit greenhouse gases and had pushed for government incentives to encourage solar energy.

Six years ago, Rubio told his colleagues in the Florida House that "this nation and world are heading toward emission caps and energy diversification" and that Florida should acknowledge global warming and develop a technological response that would make the state the "Silicon Valley" of green energy.

But now, he sounds very different on the topic of climate science.

"We can pass a bunch of laws that will destroy our economy, but it isn't going to change the weather," Rubio said on Fox News this year. "Because, for example, there are other countries that are polluting in the atmosphere much greater than we are at this point, China, India, all these countries that are still growing.

"They're not going to stop doing what they're doing. America is a country, it's not a planet. So we can pass a bunch of laws or executive orders that will do nothing to change the climate or the weather but will devastate our economy."

Sure, it might be odd at first, talking about hurricanes named after climate science scoffers. The ClimateNameChange video does a sample broadcast with a storm named after Rubio.

"Sen. Marco Rubio is expected to pound the Eastern Seaboard sometime early tonight," a fake TV reporter announces. "Windows are being boarded up and grocery stores are virtually empty, as Marco Rubio threatens everything in his path."

I can't imagine that the environmentalists will get their way with the proposed name changes. But even so, Rubio's not in the clear.

In 2014, the WMO has already decided that the 13th named tropical storm in the Atlantic will be called "Marco."

<p>WEST PALM BEACH</p><p>I got off easy.</p><p>Certainly easier than all those unfortunate souls who happened to be named Katrina, Andrew or Sandy.</p><p>In the big scheme of things, Hurricane Frank was a modest affair, a Category 1 storm that skirted the Pacific coast of Mexico three Augusts ago without making landfall. Not exactly a memorable storm. Unless you knew the six people it killed, or were among the 800,000 affected.</p><p>Having your first name associated with a meteorological disaster has been a matter of luck of the draw. About 60 years ago, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) started giving hurricanes female names to make them easier to remember. By the late 1970s, that practice was deemed to be sexist, and since then, storm names have alternated between male and female names.</p><p>This season's list of possibly infamous names include Jerry, Karen, Melissa, Pablo and Wendy. Next year, you might be unlucky if you're named Arthur, Kyle, Laura, Sally or Teddy.</p><p>So all the people with those names are at risk of being associated with the next killer storm, just because these extreme weather events need to be associated with some name.</p><p>A group of environmentalists have come up with a reasonable alternative to this.</p><p>"As climate change continues to create more frequent and devastating storms we propose to create a new naming system -- one that names extreme storms after policymakers who deny climate change," claims 350 Action, a climate change activist group, in a video at ClimateNameChange.org.</p><p>The group is petitioning the WMO to name storms after congressional leaders who have denied climate science or blocked legislative initiatives that address limiting the greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming.</p><p>One of the prominent names on the list is Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, who before his tea party makeover, was a political leader who had spoken about the need to limit greenhouse gases and had pushed for government incentives to encourage solar energy.</p><p>Six years ago, Rubio told his colleagues in the Florida House that "this nation and world are heading toward emission caps and energy diversification" and that Florida should acknowledge global warming and develop a technological response that would make the state the "Silicon Valley" of green energy.</p><p>But now, he sounds very different on the topic of climate science.</p><p>"We can pass a bunch of laws that will destroy our economy, but it isn't going to change the weather," Rubio said on Fox News this year. "Because, for example, there are other countries that are polluting in the atmosphere much greater than we are at this point, China, India, all these countries that are still growing.</p><p>"They're not going to stop doing what they're doing. America is a country, it's not a planet. So we can pass a bunch of laws or executive orders that will do nothing to change the climate or the weather but will devastate our economy."</p><p>Sure, it might be odd at first, talking about hurricanes named after climate science scoffers. The ClimateNameChange video does a sample broadcast with a storm named after Rubio.</p><p>"Sen. Marco Rubio is expected to pound the Eastern Seaboard sometime early tonight," a fake TV reporter announces. "Windows are being boarded up and grocery stores are virtually empty, as Marco Rubio threatens everything in his path."</p><p>I can't imagine that the environmentalists will get their way with the proposed name changes. But even so, Rubio's not in the clear.</p><p>In 2014, the WMO has already decided that the 13th named tropical storm in the Atlantic will be called "Marco."</p><p>COX NEWSPAPERS</p><p>Frank Cerabino writes for The Palm Beach Post. Email: frank_cerabino@pbpost.com</p>